Sebastian Loeb wins San Remo battle, but Richard Burns might have won the WRC war

By
JEREMY HART

Oct 5, 2003

RICHARD BURNS BARELY escaped losing his six-month monopoly on the World Rally championship points lead after Mother Nature turned the San Remo Rally on its head.

Burns struggled to master the treacherous asphalt roads above San Remo for the rally’s first two-and-a-half days—at one point he was a lowly 12th. With two stages to go he was up to ninth but still out of the points, and in danger of losing his advantage in the series to rallying’s hottest young star—and eventual race winner—Sebastian Loeb.

But a fast-moving rainstorm tripped up most of the competitors, who had already chosen dry tires for the last two stages. The only driver to correctly second-guess the elements was three-time San Remo winner Gilles Panizzi. His family hails from the hills through which the rally is run and he used local knowledge and high-tech radar to pick wet tires.

“I had nothing to lose,” said Panizzi, who scored his fifth straight Italian podium finish. “But I was surprised that no one else picked wet tires.”

In the space of two stages, totaling about 25 miles, Panizzi annihilated the rest of the field, which was floundering, aquaplaning and crashing its way through the stages. From a minute and 10 seconds down, Panizzi ended the rally as runner-up, just 28 seconds behind eventual winner Loeb.

Marcus Gronholm crashed from third place, effectively ending his title hopes. Ford’s Markko Martin also banged his way through the mountains but had no answer for Panizzi. He lost second place in the rally’s last few miles, damaging his championship hopes, too.

“I tried all I could, but I had no grip. I touched walls and rocks a number of times,” said Martin. He managed to win half of the rally’s 14 stages but lost almost a minute with an overheating engine on the first day and a faulty electronic management system on the second. “I needed to win here.”

Carlos Sainz battled through pain, after an emergency kidney operation last weekend, to finish fourth.

Ford’s Francois Duval was fifth. It was a lackluster season for the Belgian who is a target of rumors that Colin McRae might take his seat next year. Ford denies it’s in a position to save the Scot from possible retirement. McRae was sixth after an uninspiring run.

Which brings us back to Burns: He took seventh in the end to fend off Loeb in the title hunt. Now just two points separate them. To win the title, Burns said he must adopt a more aggressive strategy—he’s gone 29 rallies without a win.

“Of course if Sebastian wins the next two rallies, both of which are on tarmac, then the math is not good,” said Burns. “But I have always gone better in Corsica and Catalunya [the final two events]. I will push as hard as I can but I’m not about to throw everything away.”

For his part, Loeb knows he is now the championship favorite. This was his fourth career win in what is still his first full season.

“This was a very difficult one to win,” said Loeb. “We were faster all rally and I think we have a good chance to win the next two rallies as well. Then we can think about the championship.”

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